The 21st Century

12.19.128:21 AM ET

Malthusian Predictions Fail Once Again

Good news in a sad week. TheAmerican Interestreports that vast aquifers of water have been found beneath the Sahara desert. Rising farm productivity has enabled farmers worldwide to retire 10% of the world's farmland from cultivation, an area equivalent to 10 Iowas. The magazine concludes:

Slowing population growth. The restoration of massive swaths of farmland to nature. Increasing world food supplies. Lower food prices for billions of people. Massive water supplies beneath the driest deserts. Abundant oil and gas. The 21st century is looking like it will be a very different kind of place than the greens and Malthusians have warned us about.